


Innocent

by TeekiJane



Series: The Boys of Summer [12]
Category: Baby-Sitters Club - Ann M. Martin
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-02
Updated: 2013-10-02
Packaged: 2017-12-28 06:21:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/988748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TeekiJane/pseuds/TeekiJane
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With Adam driving way too fast and Byron about to shift out of first gear, Jordan worries about his decision to idle in neutral.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Innocent

_While he wishes he could escape this_  
 _But it all seems so contagious_  
 _Not to be yourself and faceless_  
 _In a song that has no soul_  
Our Lady Peace, Innocent

**Jordan**

Final exams were over. In just two days’ time, my brothers and I would finally be high school graduates. 

I’d managed to make a decent showing this year. My grades were in the okay-to-good range. I’d gotten a baseball scholarship to a pretty good school, even though I had absolutely no idea what I was going to study there. I had a solid group of friends. And of course, a girlfriend I loved. How could you beat that? 

I had needed to unwind after exams ended, so I took a basketball and went out behind the house to play alone. Haley was working, and Adam was out with Tiffany. Byron had gone straight to Jeff’s after school. Vanessa was meeting Mal at her job and they were going shopping. Mom and Dad had taken Claire, Margo and Nick out to celebrate the end of the year. They’d invited me, but I’d declined. Sometimes, you just need to decompress, and that’s not easy to do when you’re surrounded by a bunch of crazy brothers and sisters. 

So I was all by myself, bouncing the basketball, making free throw after free throw. It’s easier not to think when you just keep a steady rhythm. I don’t know how long I’d been out there—long enough that the sun had shifted, but not so long that I felt sunburned—when I heard the telltale sounds of the Civic pulling up to the curb in front of the house. I was trying to remember if Adam or Vanessa had driven off in the car after school when Adam came back up the driveway. He was alone. “You’re home early,” I commented. 

He shrugged. “Tiff’s mother came home,” he said. Despite the half-hearted reply, he looked like he had enough energy to power us both. It was almost like his muscles were twitching below the surface. I tossed him the basketball and he threw it into the hoop from where he was. “Horse?” he asked. 

“Sure.” I actually usually don’t like playing horse with Adam. Despite the fact that I’m generally a better shot than he is, he does all these complicated maneuvers that I can’t duplicate. He wins every time. 

Sure enough, he had beaten me twice before he started talking. At first it was commentary on graduation and exams and the parties our friends were having. He had just tossed me the ball when he dropped the bomb. “I slept with Tiff today,” he said, trying hard to slip it in casually. I dropped the ball on my feet and it rolled away. Thank goodness we weren’t bowling. 

I used the basketball as an excuse to not look at him. I chased it all over the place, purposely kicking it into the hedge so I had to dig. I know Adam knew what I was doing because I saw him raise an eyebrow out of the corner of my eye. “Jordan? Did you hear me?” 

I retrieved the ball. “Yeah, I heard you,” I said, also trying to sound casual, “I just thought maybe you were joking.” 

He was hurt; the change in his stance was subtle, but you share a room with someone for eighteen years and you learn to read them pretty well. “Oh, so you’re going to go with your little girlfriend on this one? Hate Tiff because she does?” 

Now my hackles were raised. Sure, Haley and Tiffany definitely did not get along when they first met. But honestly, Tiff had given Haley a lot of good reasons to dislike her. I knew they’d get past it someday, but there was a fair shot that ‘someday’ might not be any time soon. Adam should have been able to understand that; I know he was just as aware of the social faux pas that Tiff had made as I was. 

Add to that the ‘little girlfriend’ crack and I think I had a right to be ticked off. Haley might be tiny, but to me that’s an upside. “No…I am not going to hate Tiffany because Haley does,” I said drawing it out like you might talk to a five year old. “I don’t hate Tiff at all. I think she just had a nasty case of verbal diarrhea. I can understand that. You should ask Haley about our first real date and what came out of my mouth.” All of that was completely true. 

Adam snatched the ball out of my hands. “My turn,” he said. He turned around backward and made a one-handed toss over his shoulder. It bounced off the rim and over toward me. I grabbed it. “So what the hell _is_ your problem then?” he asked. 

I stood back farther from the hoop and made an exaggerated underhand throw, almost from the ground. It sailed into the net. “I don’t have a problem,” I told him shortly. “I don’t have any problems at all. In fact,” I pulled out my best sarcastic teen girl voice. “I’m so happy for you! Yay!” ” I clapped my hands and jumped up and down. 

Adam watched me, his expression blank. “All right, Asshole. Move out of the way so I can match your shot.” He gave me a shove with this side. 

We didn’t talk about his virginity again until he’d beaten me once more. I grabbed two cans of cola from the fridge and sat down at the picnic table, looking out toward the driveway. I opened one can and Adam sat down next to me. “Isn’t it a bit sudden? A little bit…quick?” 

Adam knew exactly what I meant. “What are you talking about? Aren’t you the guy who got head from Amy Fowler on the first date last summer?” 

I drew in a deep breath. I _knew_ he was going to bring that up. Amy wasn’t the first girl to give me a blow job, but I’d been dating all the others for a while before it had happened. 

Amy was a year older than me, and I’d asked her out a few times before she’d agreed to a date. After our date, she’d said she’d call me. I’d waited a whole week before I’d called her, but she’d refused to talk to me. I’m still not sure if she’d gone out that night with the intention of it being a one-time thing or if I’d done something wrong. But that night had gone a long way toward helping me make the decision to take a purity pledge. The whole night had felt so…pointless. I didn’t think sex was supposed to be like that. And the more I thought about it, the more I thought that I needed to wait for the right girl before I went any farther. 

I looked over at Adam. “There’s a big difference between head and going all the way.” 

He chuckled. “’Going all the way?’ What are you, forty?” 

I bumped him with a hip. “Seriously, though. What made you decide it was the right time?” 

Adam surveyed me for a moment. When he realized I wasn’t being sarcastic—I just seriously wanted to know—he looked thoughtful. “I don’t know,” he said, “I think everything just kind of fell into place.” He took a swig of soda and turned to me. “Why? You and Haley thinking of following in my footsteps?” 

I didn’t answer that. Instead, I just kicked at the ground. “So. Think you’re the first out of the three of us to…” I searched for a euphemism that didn’t sound middle aged. Or disrespectful. Everything I came up with sounded worse, so I just went for straight forward. “…have sex?” 

He shook his head. “As long as you’re still a virgin, then yeah. There’s no way Byron has gotten that far. I mean, he worries so much about everything. He’s so uptight, you could stick a coal up his butt and he’d poop out a diamond.” I flashed a brief smile at that. “Jeff’ll probably have to pry Byron’s jeans off of him while he’s kicking and screaming. I can’t believe I ever thought he was getting anywhere with Haley. He chuckled a moment and then realized what he’d just said. “Sorry, dude.” 

I shrugged. “You know I thought the same thing as you did, so no need to apologize.” 

Adam crushed his empty soda can and tossed it in the vicinity of the recycle bin. It landed in the grass a few feet in front of the receptacle. “So what about you and Haley?” 

“What about us?” 

“Don’t play stupid.” 

“We’re having a good time.” I hadn’t told Adam about the purity pledge, and I sure as hell wasn’t about to tell him now, since he’d basically just told me that he’d done the exact opposite. 

He took my empty can and tossed it. It bounced off the side of the recycle bin. “Yes, but how good of a time?” 

I gave him a neutral expression. “You want the God’s honest truth?” 

“Before I die.” 

I was going to obscure facts again, or be deliberately obtuse. But when it hit me how awful that would be—promising God’s truth and then lying—I blurted out the reality. “I’ve never gotten in her pants and she’s never gotten in mine. Hell, I’ve never even seen her boobs—I always touch them under a shirt.” 

I think Adam thought I was joking at first. He looked like he was about to laugh, but something stopped him. “She’s cockblocking you? Dude, I’m sorry.” 

“I’m not.” 

Adam raised his eyebrows. “You’re okay with a glacial pacing? What’s with that?” 

I debated how much to share. I ended up being a little bit chicken and just connecting a few dots for him. “Remember what made Haley storm out of the date?” 

His face clouded over. “I know, I know,” he droned. “It was Tiff and her…what did you call it? Verbal diarrhea?” 

“No. I mean, specifically what was said.” 

Adam looked at the sky briefly as he recalled, from his point of view, what had happened. “Tiff made a comment about rape. Haley got offended and took off.” He made a face. “I get that some girls get a little sensitive when people make jokes about rape, but I don’t get why Haley had to take that harmless little comment so personally.” 

I sighed. “Adam…Haley has the right to take rape personally.” 

He furrowed his brow. “What does that even—oh!” A flash of inspiration crossed his face. There was a pause as he digested that. He looked a little disgusted, then thoughtful. "Well. That explains a few things. Like why she’s such good friends with Byron. Try to find a less threatening guy.” 

“That thought had crossed my mind.” 

We sat quietly for a moment. “So you two are taking things slow,” Adam finally commented, rephrasing his earlier words. I think he was desperate to stop thinking whatever had been running through his mind. 

I nodded. “I love her. I’m willing to go as slowly as she needs.” 

Adam looked surprised. “I guess I didn’t realize how serious things were between you two,” he said slowly. 

I turned to him. “I could say the same about you and Tiff.” He grinned. “So can I ask what it was like?” 

The smile faded some. “Awkward,” he said, breaking eye contact. 

I wrinkled my brow. “What does that mean?” 

“Just what I said. Awkward.” He got up from the bench and picked up the soda cans. When he reached the recycler, he turned back. “I know that the basic moves of sex are instinctive, but I don’t think some of the other stuff is. Like how to get a rhythm going, or what to do when. Basically, how to be any good at it.” 

Wow. That was pretty honest on Adam’s part. I’d been expecting him to say, “It was fucking fantastic!” But hearing that things were not as beautiful and easy as the movies made it look solidified my decision to wait. “Maybe you just need practice,” I said, half joking. 

Adam nodded seriously. “That’s what Tiff said. She said it usually takes a few tries.” 

“So Tiff has…experience?” I struggled for the right word. 

Obviously Adam thought I’d made a poor word choice. “She’s not a slut or anything.” 

“I didn’t say she was.” 

He was on the defensive again. “She’s just slept with a couple dudes before. One in high school and one this past year. How many girls have _you_ gone with? You really have no right to judge anyone.” 

By now he was really agitated. I took a cue from Byron’s play book. Instead of replying, I just looked away and took a deep breath and then another. It worked. Adam came and sat back down next to me. 

After a moment I decided it was safe. “Have you noticed,” I began, “that all three of us are dating blonds? I wonder if that means anything.” 

Adam gave me a funny look. “You thinking it might be genetic or something?” 

“I doubt that. I mean, what else to Haley, Tiff and Jeff have in common besides being blond?” 

He nodded. “It’s not like I date Tiffany for her hair anyway,” he commented. 

“Why do you date her?” 

I expected him to get offended again. Instead, he cocked his head to one side and thought. “She was the first person to ever really think I was funny. And these days, I have the feeling she needs someone just for her. She needs me.” 

I let out a puff of air that was almost a sigh. “I just hope you’re being safe,” I said finally. 

“Oh, we are. We used a condom, and she’s on the pill.” He shifted on the hard wooden bench and lay across it so his feet were pointed toward me. “Okay. Turnabout is fair play. Now you have to tell me what you like about Haley. To me, she’s still that nine year old who thought we had cooties.” 

“Well,” I began, “there’s this energy to her. I don’t just mean the way she practically bounces when she walks. She’s just got this strong spirit, ya know? Plus, she’s totally honest. She tells it like it is.” 

Before Adam could reply to that, we heard footsteps coming up the driveway. “Byron?” I guessed. 

Adam shook his head. “Vanessa. Byron doesn’t walk; he shuffles.” 

He was right. A peeved Vanessa rounded the corner a moment later and, even though we didn’t deserve it, glared at us. “Where’s Mal?” I asked. 

“Where’s Mal?” she mimicked. “Who cares? We’d been at the mall for ten minutes when we ran into Stacey McGill.” Vanessa gestured to the house behind ours, where Stacey’s mom lives. “After that, Mal and Vanessa’s shopping time turned into Stacey and Mal’s shopping time. Lame. I had them drop me off back at home. Last thing I heard, Stacey knows a bar where she thinks she can get Mal in. Like she’d pass for twenty-one.” 

Adam and I exchanged glances. I’d never thought of Mallory’s life as interesting, but I guess sometimes it actually is. 

Vanessa went on. “What are you two losers doing out here? Don’t you have girlfriends you could be hanging out with?” 

Adam seemed amused. “Yes. Unlike some people we won’t name, we do indeed have someone to kiss goodnight.” 

Vanessa scowled. “Ha, ha. You’re a laugh riot, Adam.” 

I raised an eyebrow. “See Adam? Tiff isn’t the only one to find you funny.” He was still lying on the bench and he kicked me with one foot. 

Vanessa didn’t bother to respond to that. “So are you two just out here male bonding? Having a boy-to-boy talk?” She didn’t wait for a reply to that; instead, she sat down on the picnic table itself. Her feet were dangling off the side near Adam’s head. Her message was abundantly clear: she planned to join our bullshit session, whether we liked it or not. I turned around on the bench so I was facing her. 

And yet, there was no bullshitting going on. We sat there and looked at each other. Adam’s expression made it clear that our conversation about him and Tiff hooking up was over. We had absolutely no idea what to talk about with Vanessa. Especially when she was in such a mood. 

Finally she put us out of our misery. “I learned another little gem from Mal tonight,” she commented. “Apparently, she’s having a party on the fourth, here at the house.” 

I was surprised. “Mal? A party? I wonder who she’s inviting.” 

Vanessa sniffed. “Who else? She doesn’t bring her friends from high school or college around here. I guess I understand, because we are pretty embarrassing. So there’s only one answer: The Monkey Sitter’s Club.” 

Adam propped himself up on his elbows. “Are you calling yourself a monkey, Vanessa?” 

“No, no. I am calling the rest of you monkeys. I am a more evolved species.” She dragged her knees up in front of her on the table. “In any case, I know she’s hoping that all of us will am-scray during her party. So I’m hoping that the two of you will invite your girlfriends and Jeff over. And Margo should bring all her cheerleader friends by, and Claire’s crew could all come.” She paused. “And maybe Nick could even make himself a friend or two and convince them to come over.” 

I ran down the family tree. “And what about you? Where will you be during this?” 

“Anywhere but here. Think I want to be around all those crazy people I just mentioned?” She smiled. “Actually, Charlotte and Becca invited me to go to the fireworks with them. We’re going to go scope out the cute boys.” 

Adam grinned wryly. “Anyone in particular?” Vanessa looked irritated, but Adam cut her off before she could comment. “No, no, you wanted to sit in on our male bonding. Before you came up, we were talking about girls. Unless you’ve followed Byron’s footsteps when we weren’t looking, you’d be more interested in boys. So share or go away.” Knowing he was kidding, I laughed, and Vanessa relaxed a little bit. Adam went on. “Dish, girlfriend!” 

We didn’t expect Vanessa to oblige, but as she does so often, she surprised us. “Well, there is this one guy,” she said slowly. 

I shifted so that my feet were pointed toward Adam’s on the bench and my hands were bracing me. “Who?” 

“That’s the problem. I don’t know.” 

Adam and I looked at each other. Again. Only Vanessa could like a guy and not know who he was. “How could you not know?” I asked the obvious. 

She looked annoyed, but more with herself than with me. “We met at the DMV. He said he remembered me from somewhere, but he wouldn’t tell me where. And he wouldn’t tell me his name.” 

Adam looked thoughtful. “Describe him. Maybe we’ll figure out who he is.” 

Vanessa looked thrilled. “Well. He’s tall. Olive skin. Dark hair and eyes. Gorgeous.” 

I sighed. “Tall and dark? That’s not much to go on.” 

“You forgot handsome. Tall, dark and handsome.” 

“Sorry, Vanessa,” Adam said, saying exactly what I was thinking, “You’d have to run _that_ criteria by another brother. Jordan and I aren’t exactly checking out other guys for their studliness.” 

Vanessa shook her head. “You guys are totally hopeless.” With that, she jumped down off the picnic table. “I’m getting eaten up by mosquitos. I’m going inside.” 

After the door slammed behind her, I looked over at Adam. “I think Vanessa had a good idea.” 

He faked a look of surprise. “You think that we should start checking out how hot other guys are?” 

“No, jackass. I think we should invite Haley and Tiffany over for Fourth of July. It’s a good excuse to get them back together in the same room and see if they can survive the night without trying to kill each other.” 

Adam sat up. “I’ll do my best to make sure Tiffany is on her best behavior. I know she really does want to be on good terms with you guys. Do you think Haley can control her mouth for a couple hours?” 

I shook my head. “Not a chance. But you know what? I wouldn’t have her any other way.”

**Author's Note:**

> Coming soon in The Boys of Summer…  
> There are fireworks on July 4th, for more than one reason.  
> John Pike is disappointed in one of his sons.  
> Byron and Haley chat while folding towels.


End file.
